Friday, 15 April 2011

A little teaser for block 3 of Camelot.I am loving every minute spent on making this quilt. Let me tell you though that I think the hardest part is choosing fabrics and it took me most of the afternoon to put together and search for colour combinations. I may yet take out the centre circle and redo it as it is not my best work but I am pleased with the colours. I have prepped the templates now for 6 blocks so that I can get going.

Having decided on my colour scheme I had to do a bit more shopping and a little stop at Dotty Dollies and online at Sunflowerfabrics.com. A rummage in a huge bag of scraps from Pat that is supposed to be destined for the doggie pillows unearthed a few little pieces of treasure. No matter how large the stash there never seems to be the right colours. This was supposed to be an exercise in using what I had. I am digging deep though and finding all sorts of things in my stash that I had forgotten about.

My friend Janet has made the most beautiful quilt for her friend. As it is a gift and not yet given I will just show you one of the blocks. The whole thing just moved me to tears it was so lovely. Janet has such a good eye for detail and wouldn't you agree that the basket fabric is just perfect.

The stash of hexagon diamonds/lozenges has grown now to 79. This week I bought a bolt of cream fabric so now I can start making a zillion hexagons to start setting them in. Still have quite a few more diamonds and lozenges to make though. I hope this will be my contribution to our quilt exhibition next year which will be on the theme of "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". We did think of the Olympics as it will be 2012 but it is also the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and thought it much more appropriate. The jelly roll hexies are on hold at present till I find the right shade for the background. Having bought fabric for them and deciding against it I want to go back to my original plan. Have plans for the ones I have already prepped though. My mind is working overtime on ideas.

Thursday, 7 April 2011

Block 2 of Camelot was a little more tricky having to set in those circles. I also changed the middle cross a little to take advantage of the fabric and match the stripe which I used in block 1. It did lie flat though without the help of spray starch and I am pleased. Having discovered that I have more than one or two bits of black fabric with pink in them I now have a plan - sort of! I am enjoying the challenge. Hand piecing allows you to be so much more accurate.

Pat has recently returned from a family wedding in New Zealand and came back with this quilt kit. It is all lovely fabrics with a New Zealand theme and it is looking good.

Kate is indulging in a little play with a fabric panel and attic windows. One of her guests at her quilting retreat was making something similar and she was quite taken with it. It looks very effective.

This next photo is of a reflection of the ceiling in water in Salisbury Cathedral. Now you know I am no photographer and those of you who know how to use your cameras properly will do a much better job. It was quite fascinating. The vessel holding all that water is a font installed in 2008. If you wish to see more fabulous photographs of the Cathedral then click on the link above.

Friday, 1 April 2011

Here is the first completed block of the beautiful quilt Camelot by Trish Harper. I have hand pieced the block and loved the challenge of all those parts coming together. The only bit I did think may be a bit tricky was the setting in to the circle but it went in very smooth and I wondered why I delayed doing it. I also used a little bit of spray starch to prevent the circle from stretching as it was being sewn. One thing that I am quite often unsure about is which way to press seams and which way they should lie. Sometimes you want a shape to stand out and with a lot of seams coming together it can be quite bulky and so I went with what lay the flattest hoping that it would still work. We shall see.

This week I have been indulging in a spot of machine piecing. Occasionally even I need to do something that is a bit faster and this had me all excited. I bought a jelly roll last week at the quilt show and got a few pounds off the price because it looked a bit raggedy and it was the last one. It is just so pretty but you will have to wait a bit longer to see what it will make up into.

Valentine's Hearts by Cupcake Cottons. It is the first and probably the last time I shall do a border in this manner. It looks very pretty but fiddly. It needs a bit more quilting but essentially finished. Yeh! My contribution to all the glorious red and white quilts that are being shown around the world. I wished I could have seen them up close and personal. A big thank you to Sue from I Sew Quilts for sending lots of lovely photo's.

Now, I did just mention that I was at the quilt show at Westpoint and, I forgot my camera even after Elyte sent me a message telling me otherwise. Sorry Elyte. Lucky that Wendy took hers and sent me some photo's via e-mail.

The next two photo's are a little bit different for quilts and are by Sandie Lush. Sandie has a whole series of quilts in the shape of sweaters and the textures she creates really do resemble the knitting. When all hung together the quilt names read like a knitting pattern. They even have labels advertising Lush Knits. There are quite a collection but the famous one that she did and you may remember seeing it is the giant cricket sweater. These quilts appeal to me because many moons ago I toyed with the idea of doing a degree in knitwear and yes, Sandie is a knitter.

This quilt is by Dilys Fronks. It was part of a collection of quilts by Dilys who is renowned for her garden gate quilts. One day I am going to have to make one. This I just thought was beautiful.

Having bought the background for the hexagons and buying something that was so totally unexpected I am having doubts. I think I shall just wait and see if I like it any better when I have made a few more flowers. No more pictures now.